Ava's Beginnings
by Dragonflychaser
Summary: Karen's mother was a whitecoat, and they made her an experiment behind her back... The painful transition from normal loved daughter to tortured avianhuman hybrid. Prequel to the next fanfic I will put up so the end is not really the end. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Fifteen years ago._

The woman whitecoat parked her unmarked car in the underground garage of the Institute and carefully climbed out.

She was only a few weeks pregnant with the baby, but she wanted to be extra careful. It was her first baby, after all.

Once inside she was greeted by her fellow staff, and the howls and groans of the experiments in the next room.

"So Melissa," said a female colleague excitedly, "did you find out?"

For a minute Melissa O'Grady panicked, thinking that they knew she was pregnant. She didn't want anyone to know yet – for the baby's sake. But then she realized that Dr. Holls was asking about a DNA code problem she'd been trying to solve for about a month now.

Melissa nodded, pulled out a stack of paper from her portfolio, and handed it over. She said good morning to a few other people, then made her way to the main office.

She needed to talk to the person in charge of the Institute. Dr. Greenway, one of the top geneticists in the tri-state area.

After being let in, she informed Dr. Greenway of her pregnancy, letting him know ahead of time that she would need a maternity leave once the baby was born.

The head whitecoat hesitated, eyeing Melissa. "Tell me, Melissa..." he began.

"No," she said sharply. "I will not. I will not let you turn my baby into one of those dumb animals. I've been trying to have a child for three years now, and I want a _regular_ one. You will _not_ be injecting any DNA into _this_ baby."

Dr. Greenway nodded and said he understood, and congratulated Melissa on being pregnant. But as soon as she had left his office, he picked up the phone. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was calling Melissa's doctor, who checked up on her and the baby. When the doctor was on the line, he gave him an order.

To inject Melissa O'Grady's baby with avian DNA – and in such a way that it would not reveal itself immediately after birth.

Because to him, a pregnant employee just meant an easier way to get a test subject for the Institute of Higher Living in New York.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Twelve years later._

Karen O'Grady practically skipped to her bus stop on this particular morning. She normally trudged there, but today her New Jersey school was taking the students on a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure. Her mother wouldn't be expecting her back until 7:00 that night.

Which made it the perfect opportunity for a kidnapping for the Erasers lying in wait.

They whispered to one another in the office building across the street, watching the twelve year old girl with binoculars.

"Yep, that's her," said the leader. "Reddish brown hair, blue eyes, about five feet. Matches the picture perfectly. We should really send her mother a thank you card for giving birth to such a fine specimen." The other Erasers laughed cruelly.

"Alright, that's enough laughing," he snapped suddenly. They quieted, looking sullen. "Is the van in place?" They nodded. "Good. Get down there."

They snuck to where she was waiting, and hid in an alley. Two of them made sure no one was looking and grabbed her from behind into the alleyway. She was taken by surprise, but put up a good fight.

She bit one's arm, punched another in the gut, then the mouth, and swung her backpack at yet another. However, she was outnumbered. She was tied up, blindfolded, and dragged into the waiting van, which drove off to a private runway.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Karen had been thrown into a dog crate in the plane, thrown by the foul-smelling wolf-men who'd kidnapped her. She had no idea what was going on, but she knew this was definitely not good.

She ineffectually rattled the bars on the cage. Even if she did escape, she was on an airborne plane, going who knows where.

The Eraser who was guarding her in the cargo hold got bored and annoyed. Leveling his tranquilizer gun at her, he squeezed the trigger and grinned as she fell backwards.

"Nighty-night," he told her.

_Good night to you in h–_ she thought, before sinking into unconsciousness.

When she woke up, she was in another cage, inside a lab.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Karen looked around, but it was a limited view. There were more cages, a few tables with lab equipment, some of the wolf-guys, and a bunch of scientists.

"Hey Murphy, she's awake!" shouted an excited scientist to another. Karen groaned. These people definitely weren't on her side if they were looking at her like she was some new species.

"This is O'Grady's daughter?" asked Murphy's friend.

"Yep. We're starting the radiation treatments this afternoon," Murphy said, beaming.

Karen scowled and flipped him the finger. Murphy frowned for a minute. "Hmm," he muttered. Trying not to lose face, he kicked the cage. He hopped away holding his stubbed toe.

Eventually they all left. Karen looked around again, to see who or what was in the other cages in the room.

She spotted five other kids who looked about her age, a lizard with some sort of lump on his back, and a few..._things_. It was really the only way to describe them, unfortunately.

For a while she just sat there, unsure if she should say anything. Then one of the kids in the room spoke up. "So what's your name?"

Karen looked up to find out who had asked. She found herself looking at a pale-skinned girl with blue eyes and black hair. "Where are we?" Karen asked her.

The girl hesitated for a moment when she realized that Karen was completely new to all this. "You don't know?" she asked.

"No."

The girl sighed. "We call it the University – they act like a bunch of stuck-up morons." She paused.

Karen was still confused. "And... what do they do to us?"

The girl paused again; then decided to go through with it. Carefully, and as far as she could in the cramped cage, she extended her dolphin-gray wings. Karen stared.

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't notice Leti or Luna first," the girl commented, smiling.


	5. Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

"Who?" asked Karen.

"Right, introductions," said the bird-girl. "I'm Ichthia. That's Myles." She pointed to a redheaded, spiky haired boy with blue eyes. "That's Luna." This time to a dark-brown haired girl with yellowish eyes, as well as wolf ears and tail. "That's Nat." Now to a brown haired boy with green eyes and who appeared to have gill slits on the sides of his neck, and webbed fingers. "And that is Leti." Ichthia pointed to a blond haired and brown eyed boy, who had large dark freckles all over his face. His blond hair had black spots in it, and he had a cheetah tail.

Karen nodded, taking it all in. Suddenly the little lizard she had seen earlier snorted. Ichthia looked sheepish. "And that's Drake," she explained. "He's a lizard with bat wings, and by some strange coincidence, he breathes fire. So he's kind of a dragon."

"So," said Myles, "what's your name?"

Karen stopped for a second – should she make up her own name?

She didn't get to decide, as some scientists came in at that moment, one of them carrying a taser.

"Experiment 3-6-2," one said. "O'Grady's daughter. She's in this cage. Got the taser ready?" The one carrying the taser nodded.

Karen ruled out fighting due to the taser. So all she could do was be carried out of the room, the others sadly looking after her.

They took her to another room and strapped her to a metal table, where they began the radiation treatments.

The pain was terrible.

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**A/N: pronunciation guide. **

**Ichthia ICK-thia**

**Leti LET-ee**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Maximum Ride.**

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Chapter 6

_Day of the kidnapping._

Someone knocked on the front door of the O'Grady home, and Dr. Melissa O'Grady, who hadn't yet left for the Institute, went to answer it. To her surprise, she found four unmorphed Erasers standing on the front steps.

"Did something happen?" she asked.

"No ma'am," said the leader. "May we come in? There's something we need to tell you."

Melissa soundlessly stepped back and let them inside. When she shut the door, one morphed, and then grabbed her and put tape over her mouth before she could scream. The other three went through the house to find her husband and eight year old son.

All three were tied up and gagged, then locked in the living room with a time-bomb. One of the Erasers, on orders, had already removed all of Melissa's information on the Institute.

"Oh yes," said the leader as he was about to step out the door. "The thing we were going to tell you... we took your daughter. Karen? Nice kid; took her to a place in Arkansas." He chuckled. "Just because you tell your boss you don't want animal DNA in your kid doesn't mean he'll listen." They left, all four laughing loudly.

All three O'Grady's cried silently, having seen the bomb placed in front of them. Melissa in particular cried for her daughter, since she had seen firsthand all the things that the experiments were subjected to. She said a prayer and took a last look heavenward just before they were all blown to pieces.

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**I don't own Maximum Ride.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I do not own Max... **

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Chapter 7

After being exposed to radiation for half an hour, Karen was taken to an isolation room. She was kept there for a month, only taken out when it was time for her to be "treated" again. Once the treatments were finished, she was kept there for a few more weeks.

The radiation had done something to her body, and she had heard the whitecoats (as she now knew they were called) talking about it.

During one of the times her mother, Melissa O'Grady, had gone to the hospital the doctor had injected her (Karen) with avian DNA. But he'd done it in such a way that the DNA would remain dormant until exposed to significant amounts of radiation.

So now almost everything inside her was changing. She had seen the x-rays and so knew what was going on. Her organs, mainly her heart and lungs, had changed. Her bone structure had as well. And she had grown a few extra inches, and gotten lighter.

All this in two months. And her wings would be fully grown, they said, in a year.

She wanted to cry – a year in this place? But at least there were people to talk to, that girl Ichthia, and the others. She hoped they were still there for her to talk to when the whitecoats took her back.

And they did, half-dragging her through the hallways.

This time, Karen decided, she would give them a name so they knew what to call her. She'd heard about her mother and family. The past was behind her, Karen O'Grady simply didn't exist anymore.

She was Ava, named for her new self, a bird who was unfortunately in a cage.


	8. Chapter 8

**I still don't own Max. But she doesn't show up in this story anyway.**

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Chapter 8

When Ava was put back in her old dog cage, Ichthia didn't recognize her at first. They had met only once, and briefly, two months ago.

But Ichthia and the others remembered after a while, and asked what had happened. Ava told her the whole story: her kidnapping, her family's murder, and her DNA. Ichthia nodded solemnly when she was finished and then asked what name she wanted. She told her.

"Okay," said Ichthia. "So you're bird DNA?" Ava nodded. "Okay. Did we tell you yet what DNA we've got?" Ava shook her head.

Ichthia began. "I'm part bird and fish. I've showed you the wings, but I can also sort of morph my fish features. The gills, webbing, scales – I can make them go away or come back when I need to.

"Myles is bird too. Show her Myles," she said. Myles showed them his red cardinal wings. "Leti," Ichthia continued, "is part cheetah. Tail, hair color, fangs, and retractable claws. Luna is part wolf, but not like the Erasers. Wolf ears and tail, and sharp nails and teeth." Luna waved to Ava from her crate. "Nat is part fish. Gills, webbed hands and feet. And if you don't remember, Drake is a lizard/bat, or, dragon."

"Got any powers?" asked Leti.

"Umm..." said Ava. What powers?

Ichthia saw and explained. "It's like a DNA side effect," she said. "I've got super strength. And Myles can make stuff – out of thin air."

"If you've got super strength," said Ava, "why don't you just break out?"

Ichthia gave a wry smile. "They know about it already. My cage is specially made so I can't break it or anything."

Ava thought for a second. "And what do you mean, 'Myles can make stuff'?"

"Well," Ichthia began. "It showed up only recently, so he doesn't have much control over it. He can't always make it work." She nodded to Myles, who concentrated and held out his hands in front of him. With a small pop, a small paper heart appeared in his hands. When he saw what it was, his face turned red and he quickly hid it behind his back.

Leti was silently laughing and pointing at Myles. Ava blushed herself – Myles _did_ look nice.

"Sheesh," Luna started. "First you and Nat, Ichthia, and now –"

"Shut up!" Ichthia hissed at Luna. It was now Nat's turn to go pink.

There was an awkward silence before Ava asked, "How old are you guys anyway?"

"About twelve and a half," said Myles.

"We don't have actual birthdays," Leti interrupted. "And I'm eleven."

"Ten," said Luna.

"I'm eleven," said Ichthia. "And so is Nat. How old are you?"

"Twelve," replied Ava.

"Cool," said Ichthia. "You can be co-leader."

"Huh?" said Ava.

"Hey!" exclaimed Myles. "I thought you said that could my job!"

"I told it could be your job when you were a little more mature," Ichthia retorted. "And right now, you're still not very mature." Myles grinned.

"Co-leader," Ichthia said, turning back to Ava. "I was the leader, but now I could be co-leader with you. In charge of the group and all that."

Ava shrugged. "Okay."

"Myles probably likes that decision," Leti said loudly.

"Shut up," Myles told him.

"Both of you shut up," Ichthia stated. They stopped.


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**A/N: Sorry for giving you a short chapter. But in the next one, she gets her powers.**

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Chapter 9

It had been about a year now since Ava had been kidnapped; she was thirteen now. Her wings were now fully grown, about twelve feet across. They were a light reddish brown, and matched her hair almost perfectly.

Of course, she hadn't tried them out yet. And if she did get to, it would be in the gym – where the whitecoats let Erasers fight the other experiments.

That and Crocs. They were like Erasers, only they morphed into crocodile-men. They were jerks as well.

One in particular was especially a jerk – he'd started hitting on Ichthia. It was disgusting, and it got everyone's blood boiling.

Not only did Ava's wings develop, but her powers did too.


	10. Chapter 10

**Don't own Max.**

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Chapter 10

"Go!" shouted a whitecoat.

It was another year later, and they were in the "gym," currently fighting a mix of Erasers and Crocs. Chris, the Croc who was hitting on Ichthia, was there too.

He didn't stay for long though because he came at her alone. She flipped him over her back, got on top of him, and broke his arm and jaw. He'd been dragged out to have the bones set.

Ava was having trouble defending herself. _Stupid self-defense tests, _she thought. _They couldn't have just put us on treadmills or something?_

An Eraser slammed into her from behind. She was knocked forward and quickly got up and assumed a sort of fighting stance.

Five minutes later, she was backed against a wall as the whitecoats looked on; wanting only to stop the fighting if she was in danger of being killed. An Eraser was coming at her again, swinging his foot forward in a roundhouse kick.

Ava flung her arms in front of herself, even though she knew it wouldn't stop him, and flinched.

The kick never came. However, she heard some excited muttering from the whitecoats.

Ava opened her eyes to see she'd made a force field.

A shimmering, purple-colored bubble, it had effectively stopped the kick, and the Eraser now lay on the floor glaring at her.

It wasn't all either. A few weeks later she was resisting being put back into her cage. Ava was sick of it, she wanted to be free. But the whitecoats kept shocking her with a taser and trying to push her inside.

Her anger mounted, she wanted to beat them up and stick them with a couple of tasers. The tension rose as well. Suddenly, a row of nearby test tubes began to shake back and forth in their rack. Only Ava noticed, and she only remembered it later.

The tubes continued to shake, until they burst. The contents fell on one of the whitecoats, who angrily gave Ava a final push into the cage and stormed off to wash off the chemicals.

When Ava put the pieces together, she realized it must have been her. Telekinesis? Over the next month, other strange occurrences told her yes.

And one night in her cage, she found she could turn herself invisible. So force fields, telekinesis, and invisibility. She could use those to get out of here.


	11. Chapter 11

**Once again for the disclaimer: I do not own Max. DX**

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Chapter 11

_One year later._

_I'm fifteen,_ Ava thought. _I've been in this hellhole for three years now. I am so out of here today._

Ever since she'd found out about her powers, she'd been practicing at night when no whitecoats, Crocs, or Erasers were around. She'd get out of here and kick their sorry butts. And she'd take her friends with her.

After the morning testing, she put her plan into action. Concentrating, and trying to stay calm, Ava used her telekinesis to lift the key ring from the wall and make it float over to her. She unlocked the cage and stepped out. It would have been fine if they hadn't come.

Ava had barely gotten outside her cage when a whitecoat came into the room, accompanied by a Croc.

She panicked.

And when Ava panicked, her telekinesis usually got a bit out of control. She ran forward, projecting a force field around herself, so she wouldn't be hit by the objects flying around the room.

She barreled past the whitecoat and Croc, running out the door and to the emergency stairs. She got up and out, coming out in the main floor that was the University director's home. There were Erasers and Crocs waiting for her, but she didn't care.

Ava spread her wings and took off, a force field around her in case they had tranquilizer guns – which they did.

As she burst out into the open, she remembered the others and cursed.

_I'll come back, guys. I promise. I'll come back as soon as I shake off these stupid flying Erasers... I'll come back._

**A/N: At some point, I'll be putting up the next story, "Max Meets Ava." The title is self-explanatory. Also, thank you to everybody who reviewed. :)**


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